The Sciku Project

diving in formation
sperm whale pod
upon one matriarch click

by Douglas J. Lanzo

I was inspired to write this Sciku by reading an article in Harvard Magazine entitled “Decoding the Deep” by Jonathan Shaw. It reinforced the beauty and intricacy of whale communications that had fascinated by watching ocean documentaries over the years.

The article details the complexity of the staccato clicking language of sperm whales and the billions of vocalizations the CETI project is seeking in order to decode their speech. However, I was struck that the first sperm whale word we have learned is the word to dive. Given that sperm whales travel in pods led by matriarchs and that a single click can be emitted at well over 200 decibels, I came up with this sciku to capture their magnificent synchrony of movement signaled by a single whale click.

It is amazing to think of the tremendous depths to which whales can descend (nearly 3,000 meters) at over 100 atmospheres in pressure and even more amazing to ponder the vocalizations of these wondrous creatures with the largest brains in the world.

Further reading

‘Decoding the Deep’, 2024, Shaw, J., Harvard Magazine, Volume 126, Issue 6. Available: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/harvard-researchers-language-of-whales

‘Animal (Code) Cracker’, 2024, Shaw, J., Harvard Magazine. Available: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2024/07/harvard-undergraduate-whale-vocalizations

I also recommend watching ocean documentaries, many of which are available on Amazon Prime, about whales.

Author bio

I am the author of ‘The Year of the Bear’ (Ames Best YA Book of 2023) and the 2024 Firebird Award winning ‘I Have Lived’ (a newly released novella) and have published poems in 76 literary publications worldwide. I reside in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with my wife and twin sons and enjoy basketball and tennis. My author’s website is at www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here: ‘Sentient Sea Play’, ‘Ornamental Defense’, and ‘Undersea Fireworks’.

fifteen elephants
carefully balanced
on columns of fat

by Mike Fainzilber

Believe it or not, this is a haiku about jellyfish – specifically deep-sea jellyfish that live at depths where the water pressure is equivalent to that that would be applied by 15 African elephants piled up on the palm of the reader’s hand. When such jellyfish are brought to the water surface they literally vanish, melting into their surroundings.

Recent research has now shown that this is because the lipids (fat molecules) that make up the membranes of deep-sea jellyfish are specially adapted to form cylindrical structures (required for functional membranes) under extreme pressure. When pressures are reduced, these lipids change shape, causing membranes to curve and disrupt.

These findings are important for our understanding of how life is possible in the deep oceans and perhaps other high-pressure environments. Indeed, the researchers were able to take advantage of the new insights to engineer bacteria for survival under extreme pressures.

Further reading:

‘Homeocurvature adaptation of phospholipids to pressure in deep-sea invertebrates’, 2024, Winnikoff, J.R., et al., Science. Available: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adm7607

‘How jellyfish survive pressures that would crush you into oblivion’, 2024, Cummings, S., Science. Available: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zdvphja

Author bio:

Mike Fainzilber’s day job is a biologist. He began writing haiku and senryu during the pandemic, and this side effect of COVID-19 has not worn off yet. Editors in his two spheres of activity have been known to suggest that he should best restrict his efforts to the other sphere. Find out more about Mike’s research via his lab’s website and connect with him on X/Twitter @MFainzilber.

Read more sciku by Mike: ‘The deepest shade’.